Autism, ADHD and the diagnosis

   I had promised a post on diagnosis on Autism and ADHD. I am here to make good on that promise. Often times we hear the word Autism pop up and any number of things can pop up. Only one thing is really associated with ADHD and that is the hyperactivity. So much more is involved with both. My version of these things are different from someone else. The reason being is that each kid with these type of disorders are different. They are spectrum disorders. Depending on who the child is they might have different issues surrounding the diagnosis. I'm going to touch on the symptoms that effect my children.
    Sharon has Autism. A lot of things spider web off of that. When someone is autistic they might have a wide range of disorders. Sharon has social dysfunction, OCD and speech delay. These are the main reasons for her diagnosis. Underlying these disorders are several others. Sharon has Motor coordination disorder which means that she has a hard time getting her brain to tell her body what to do. Hyperacusis is an acute sense of hearing. She has learning disabilities. She also has muscular dystrophy, another name for low muscle tone. There are several other diagnosis that go along with autism but these are Sharon's issues. Sometimes you have children that cannot speak but do not have social dysfunction. They know how to function in society they are just unable to speak. Sometimes they will not have the OCD. It is not very common but I have seen it. That is one of Sharon's biggest struggles, the OCD. Low muscle tone along with bad motor coordination makes it hard for Sharon. Getting up and off  of things is very difficult. Most of her learning difficulties come from motor coordination. She might know it in her brain but she can't get her body to say it or do it. That happens more often than not. She is thinking of a P and writes a D. She will see what a picture is and be thinking about something completely different. So she talks about what she is thinking about. Sharon also thinks in a picture based reality. If she can't picture it in her head she probably does not understand it. Her fall back is her memory which is much better than a normal persons. She files situations away and retrieves them when necessary. It is very difficult to explain something abstract to Sharon. When she gets something though she gets it. Sharon needs time to process things. It is hard because the things that take us milliseconds takes her a minute or so. As someone who is not autistic, I have no understanding of that. I try but it is one of those things that I can't be in her shoes.

   Leah is very complicated. There is so much to still figure out about her. She has hyperactivity that is associated with ADHD. With that comes with things that are hard for her to process. Like Sharon it is difficult to process things. Leah is the opposite from Sharon. She is moving too fast to process. Her body is already moving before her brain has processed it. It might be the other way around as well. Her brain has processed something so fast not allowing her body the time to move. Thus, it gives the impression of flightiness. Going to one thing to another without finishing, she has forgotten what she started. Leah also has a hard time with sensory issues. She has textile, food and sound sensory problems. So they would label her as SPD or sensory processing disorder. Some noises can hurt when she hears them. Jeans hurt her when she wears them. She does not like certain shirts. She is extremely ticklish. She is very picky about her food. We have a hard time feeding her. ADHD comes with anxiety. Why wouldn't it? Everything that you try to do seems to get mucked up. So you get anxious about doing anything. It is important that you praise them for what they do right and diminish what they do wrong. Meaning that we work on bad behavior in a rewarding way. If she is able to not do something she gets a sticker towards something. We only focus on one behavior at a time. For instance, if you can go a day without throwing toys(or backpacks) you get a sticker. Really trying to focus on the one than bring another to the top. It is a slow process. However, We are making slow progress with it. Leah also has her medical condition which is probably our biggest worry. She has ketotic hypoglycemia. It is a condition in which your body doesn't store enough sugar. It starts producing ketones to keep up. Ketones make you sick. It makes it seem like you have the stomach flu except worse. Your blood sugar drops than you can't eat because your throwing up. It is a mess. Luckily we can monitor well now. We know what to look for and an ER just down the street.
  One might ask the question: With all this going on how does one function? We should ask that question about a lot of things. It is hard to fathom being blind when you have sight. Being deaf when you can hear. These things are hard to understand. How can someone go through the day in a wheelchair and be happy? I really don't have to search very far to see if my daughters are happy. They are probably the happiest people I know. It isn't because they don't know they have problems. It is because they move past them. Their lives are have no less value than mine. In fact, sometimes I feel as though they are doing more than I have ever done. It is written:
 "As He passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him,"Rabbi who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered,"It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." John9:1-3
 I pray that we all of are full of joy. Joy that what our journey brings is so that the works of God might displayed it that path. God Bless.